Typewriting machine



Mar. 13, 1923.

' W. F. HELMOND TYPEWRITIIING MACHINE Filed Feb. 5, 1919 4 fforney Patented Mar. 13, 1923.

barren star lanai? as rarest OFFECE.

WILLIAM F. I-IELMOND, OF' HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO UNDEBVIOOD TYPENRITEE CDMPANY, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

TYPEVIRITING MACHINE.

Application filed February 5,1919. Serial No. 275,172.

T 0 all Ill/L077?) it may concern.

Be it known that I, VVILLIAM F. Hnmrcnn, a citizen of the United States, residing in Hartford, in. the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful In'iprovements in Typewriting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for supporting and guiding the carriages of type writing machines.

The invention is illustrated in connection with the paper carriage of the well-known Underwood typewriter. This carriage is shown as supported partly by two rear guide-rolls, which run upon a guide rail.

Each roll is supported by means of a ball hearing, which is made detachable, and each roll is connected up to its bearing and to the balls in a manner to form a unit, which can be removed bodily from the machine or attached thereto without disturbing the balls or altering the relationship between the roll and the hearing. The invention also provides improved means for adjusting said hearings to compensate for wear.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of a novel front guide for the carriage. I have devised a novel ball bearing roll, which is of such small diameter that it will fit in a very narrow guiding groove or track, while, however, turning upon ball bearings of ample proportions. This novel front carriage roll may have a diameter of about one-fourth of an inch, so that the guiding groove therefor may have but little height, thus permitting the use of such a low front guide bar for the carriage, that the writin line will be easily visible above the bar. gaid front roll, although of such small diameter, may run upon hearing balls of say of an 111Cl1 diameter and arranged in a raceway of ample dimensions. This raceway may be of greater diameter than said guide-roll, which is supported by the balls running in said raceway. This small guideroll may pro ect from the carriage into the grooved guideway or track, and may constitute the sole support for the front of the carriage, so that the use of the usual large front roll for this purpose may be terminated, and the necessity of forming the guiding groove in exact parallelism with a front rail may also be avoided. i I

The front carriage-guiding-r0-ll, although of small diameter to permit the use of a low front guide bar, turns freely uponball bearings, which are of larger dimensions than said guideroll. It will be understood that the use of the balls permits the supporting of the carriage by means of a roll that projects forwardlyfrom the ball-bearing wheel,

since no cramping effect results to retard the movement of the carriage, inasmuch as the balls enable both the wheel and the roll thereon to run smoothly, notwithstanding that the point of support of the carriage is well in front of the vertical plane .in which the supporting balls run. Moreover, the roll, with its ball bearings, may be manufactured as a unit and so assembled or disassembled.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of the paper carriage of an Underwood typewriter, provided with front and rear rolls embodying the present improvements.

Figure 2 is an enlar ed sectional detail of the front carriage r0 1. I

Figure 3 is a detail of the rear carriage roll unit, with the parts disassembled.

Figure 3 is a diagram to illustratethe finished condition of a thimble or coupling for the ball cones.

Figure l is a part-sectional perspective view of the carriage, illustrating the arrangement of rolls thereon.

The paper carriage comprises rear and front bars 10, 11, and side or end bars 12, 13, forming one casting; and is guided upon a rear cylindrical rail 14 by means of guiderolls 15. The front of the carriage is supported upon a rail or track 16, which will presently be described.

.Each of the rear rolls is peripherally grooved at 17 to fit upon and cling to the rear guide rail, and each may have also a peripheral clearance groove 18, to avoid frictional contact with the top of the rail.

In the rear of the roll isformed a ball cup 19, and in the front of the roll is provided a similar ball cup 20. Toco-operate with these cups to form raceways for front and rear sets of-balls 21, are'two cones 22, 23,

which are fixed to the carriage, said cones facing each other to confine the balls in the raceways.

Extending through bores 24, formed in the cones is a tube or bushing 25, which is forced into said bores2e, and has on its forward end a head 26, and at its rear end is spun over at 27 to form a head pressing against the rear face of the rear cone 22 to adjust or draw the two cones together permanently, and take up all play in the ball bearings, a space being left at 27 between said cones, to permit them to approach each other while said headis being spun over, and also to permit any further play to be taken up in the ball bearings that may accrue from wear.

Said bushing 25 fits upon a supporting stud 28, which, at its forward end 29, is threaded into a hole 30 in the rear part of the carriage. Said stud has a flange 31 to fit against a vertical finished hearing or surface 32 on the rear carriage bar 10, whereby accuracy of positioning of th roll 15 is secured; and said flange 31 may have a square or octagon form, for convenience in using a wrench to screw the stud into place on the carriage.

Into the rear end of the stud is tapped a confining screw 33, whose head may bear against the outer end 27 of said bushing 25, and hold the bushing and cones rigidly against the stud flange 81. This enables said cones 22, 23 to afford a rigid and accurately-positioned bearing or support for the uide-roll 15, so that the carriage is rigidy guided. There is no play of the roll in either axial or radial direction. The unit, consisting of the roll, the cones, balls, and the bushing, is capable of accurate and cheap-manufacture, and may be readily assembled and disassembled by unskilled hands. I

It will therefore be seen may run upon two series of balls 21, the roll having the front and rear cups 520 and 19 to co-operate with the central cones 23 and 22 to form the two raceways tor the two series of balls; these cones or comple mentary bearings being stationary upon the carriage, and forming the aforesaid hearing for the roll. To enable this hearing and the roll, together with the balls, to be assembled and disassembled as a unit, the cones are coupled together, so that all the balls are permanently confined between said cones and the cones in the roll itself. These internal cones are centrally perforated and, as above explained, are mounted upon the stud or shaft 28 projecting from the frame of the typewriter carriage; and they are rigidly fastened to the carriage to form a stationary bearing over which the balls travel as the carriage runs. The unit therefore comprises the roll, the balls, and the that each roll 15 stationary cones. In other words, the stationary bearing is connected with the roll and the balls to form a unit; said stationary bearing movable with the roll when taken from the machine, but being immovable upon the carriage when in use.

As heretofore explained, in orderto secure said cones together, there is employed the in erior tubular bushing 25, whose ends have the external flanges or heads 26 and 27 to confine the cones against separation. This bushing is originally provided with the head 26, and after the balls are inserted and confined in the raceways, the bushing is inserted in the bores in the cones, and another head 2? is spun or formed upon the opposite end of the bushing, thereby taking up all play between the cones and the balls, and also giving the parts the character of a permanent unit.

The space 27 is left between these hearing cones, so as to permit them to be pressed towards each other at the operation of spinning the head upon the coupling or bushing. This space between the cones also permits the subsequent taking up of wear by spinning the head more tightly upon the coupling or bushing, thus bringing the cones more closely together and taking up any play that may have developed. This produces a durable roller hearing, which can be readily assembled and disassembled, and can hold the carriage tightly, and at the sam time permit the carriage to havethe required sensitiveness.

Said connecting bushing 25 may fit directly upon the bearing stud 28 on the carriage. Said stud may, as heretofore explained, be threaded into the hole 30 provided in the carriage, and may have formed thereon the head 31 for turning the same by the use of a wrench, said head being adapted to fit against the Vertical finished bearing or face 32 upon the carriage, where-by accuracy of location of the roll may be secured. The tip of the stud may be drilled and tapped. to receive the screw 33 which confines the roll upon the stud. By taking out this confining screw the roll may be withdrawn, and subsequently it may be replaced, all in a simple manner, without use of special tools or need of skill.

At the front of the carriage, a stud in the form of a screw 84, having a shank 35 and a head 36, is threaded into a hole 37 made in the front carriage bar 11, and abearing in thet'orn'i of a pair of cones 38 is fixed to the carriage by means of this screw. A single series of guiding balls 89 runs in a raceway formed partly by said cones and partly by a V-groove 40 1 ormed internally in a relatively large portion 41 of a carriage roller. :Projecting forwardly from the center of said portion 4:1 is an integral portion 42 of relatively small diameter upon Which the front of the carriage is supportedis in the nature of a flange or rim projecting,

upwardly from the usual plate 45 provided upon the front of the framework of an Underwood typewriting machine, and bearing the usual front scale 46 of the typewriter, to co-operate with index 47. Itwill be seen that, owing to the small diameter of the guiding roll 42 and consequent little height of the guiding groove or track 43, its flange or rim 16 may be made comparatively low, and in fact may be made to stand no higher than the front bar 11 of the carriage itself, and hence there is no interference with the reading of the typewriting upon the front of the platen 44. The portion 41 may! be covered by a small housing 50 formed upon the front bar of the carriage.

The point of bearing of the guide-roll upon the upper and lower guiding surfaces or tracks in the groove, is so' close to the plane in which the bearing balls run, that the tendency to cramp is not excessive; and

the effect of such tendency is overcome by the use of the balls themselves, which run freely even when supporting considerable pressure. I

' It will thus be seen that in carrying out this featur of the invention in its preferred form, as explained above, I fix upon the front of the carriage the pair of cones 38 for the set of bearing balls 39, which may consist of the single circular row or series. Upon these cones I mount the roller, by means of the large portion 41 which has the interior V-groove, to which said'cones are complementary, forming the raceway for the set of balls. From this projects forwardly the portion 42 which has the appearance of a hub, and which may be of such small diameter as to requirea guide-groove 43 of but little height. The lower surface of the groove is a carriage-supporting rail, and the upper surface confines the roller against upward displacement. T he stud projecting from the front of the carriage supports said cones. This stud, as already explained, may be in the form of a screw passing through the central opening in said guiding roll, and

holding the cones rigidlyagainst the vertical finished hearing or surface on the front of the typewriter carriage.

Said guiding-roll may be bored to accommodate the screw head 36, and the latter may bear against the end or flange 51 of a bushing 48, which is spun over at 49 and permanently connects the cones in the manner already explained in connection with the rear carriage rolls.

. It will be seen that the roller, the balls 39 and cones 38 may be combined as a unit by means of the bushing 48 and then readily secured in the machine by the use of the screw stud 35, and may at any time be readily disassembled without separating the balls or other parts from one another, gain ing the advantages already explained in connection with said rear rolls; In, other words, thecones may be held together by means of the interior bushing 48 headed at both ends in the manner already ex plained in connection with the rear carriage guiding-rolls; the bushing being originally headedatone'endand spun over to form a headat the other end, thus taking up all play of the b'allsyand the conesmay' be also separated slightly to permit such play to be taken up, both when the device is manufactured, and also subsequently when the parts have become loose through wear. I

Variations be resorted 'to within the, a

scope of the invention, and portions of the improvements may be used without others. Having thus described my invention, '1 claim: 1'

1. The combination with a typewriter carriage, of a track, a roll to support said can. riage and guide it upon said track, said roll having front andrear cups, ,a pair of cones to co-operate wlth said cups to form two raceways, bearing balls in the raceways, means coupling said cones together, said coupling means, 'saidcones, said balls and J said roll forming a unit, a detachable stud or shaft provided with means to hold said pair of cones rigidly upon the carriage, a finished bearing surface on said carriage, a head on said stud, andmeans for firmly fastening said stud to said'carriage with said head against said finished bearing surface.

2. The combination-witha typewriter carriage, of a traclga roll to support-said carriagev and guide it upon said track, said roll having front and rear cups, a pair of cones to co-operate with said cups to form two raceways, bearing balls in the raceways,

means coup-ling said'cones together, said coupling means, said cones, said balls and said roll forming a unit, a detachable stud or shaft provided with means to hold said pair of 'cones rigidly upon the carriage,- said cone-coupling means comprising a tubular bushing fitting tightly in the cones, and having at its ends externalflanges'to confinethe cones against separation, a head" on said stud forming a limiting stop for one end of said bushing, and adetachable fa tening means forming alimiting stop for the other end of said bushing, said head and fastening means serving as means, for ac curately positioning the bearing on said stud.

3;,Thecombinationwith a typewriter car-. riage, ofa track,.a roll to support said carriage and guide. it upon said track, said roll having front and rear cups, a pair of cones,

,means coupling said cones tightly in the cones,

confine the cones aga nst by the bushing m ay able stud or shaft carrying said unitand means coupling said cones together, said coupling means,

said roll forming a unit, a detachable stud or shaft provided with means to hold said pair of cones rigidly upon the carriage, said cone-coupling means comprising a tubular bushing fitting tightly in the and having at its ends external flanges to confine the cones against separation, a finished bearing surface on said carriage, a head on said stud, means for firmly fastening said stud to said carriage with said head against said finished bearing surface, said head forming a limiting stop for one end of said bushing, and a detachable fastening means forming limiting stop for the other end of said bushing, said head and fastening means thus serving as neans for accurately position ing said roll with respect to said carriage.

4. The combination with a typewriter carriage, of a track, a roll to support said carriage and guide it upon said track, said roll having front and rear cups, apair of cones to co-operate with said cups to form two raceways, bearing balls in the raceways, together, said coupling means, said cones, said balls and saidroll forming a unlt of mutually interconnected elements, .said cone-coupling means comprising a tubular bushing fitting and having at its ends external flanges to separation, the play of said balls being taken up by means of said bushing, one of whose flanges is spun over from one end of said bushing to draw the cones. permanently and a space being left between said cones to permit subsequent taking up of wear by spinning one of said bushing flanges more tightly upon the cones, whcre be shortened, a detachmounted upon said carriage, and means securing said bushing and adjustable to compensate for differences in length of the bushing.

5. The combination with a typewriter carriage, of a track, a roll to supportsaid carriage and guide it upon said track, said roll having vfront and rear cups, a pair of cones to co-operate wlth said cups to form two raceways, bearing balls in the race ways, means coupling said cones together, said coupling means, said cones, said balls and said roll forming a unit, a detachable stud or shaft provided with means to hold said pair of cones rigidly upon the carriage, said cone-coupling means comprising a tubular bushing fitting tightly in the cones,

said cones, said balls and against the balls,

and having at its ends external flanges to confine the cones against separation, the play of said balls being taken up by means of said bushing, one of whose heads is spun over to draw the cones permanently towards each other, and a Space being left between said cones to permit sub sequent taking up of wear by spinning one of said bushing heads more tightly upon the cones, vided in the carriage and having formed thereon a head, said carriage having a fin-' ished bearing face against which said head fits, said stud projecting from said head, and a screw threaded upon the projecting end of said stud to clamp the cones against said head. I 1

6. The combination with a typewriter carriage, of a bearing roller therefor comprisingtwo circular portions of diameters, a guideway for the carriage in the form of a confining groove in which the smaller portion of the roller fits, a stud up on said carriage, cones upon said stud, the larger portion of said roller having an interior V-groove to co-operate with said cones to form a raceway, and rolls running in said raceway. 7, In a front-strike typewriting machine, the combination with a. platen carriage having a frame comprising a front bar, of a front carriage track, a guiding groove extending along said front bar in the rear face thereof, a guiding roller comprising two circular portions whereof one'proiects forwardly from said carriage to fit in said groove and to be confined thereby against upward displacement, the other of said portions being of greater diameter than the distance between the walls of said groove, balls uponwhich said other portion turns, and means upon said carriage to carry said balls.

8. The combination with a typewriter carriage, of a pair of cones fixed thereon, a set of balls running upon said cones, a carriage roller comprising alarge circular portion having an interior groove to co-operate with said cones to form a raceway for said balls, and also comprising a relatively small circular portion projecting from said large portion, and a grooved carriage-supporting track or guideway within which said roller fits and whereby it is confined against upward displacement.

9. The combination with a typewriter carriage, of a pair of cones, a set of balls running upon said cones, a carriage roller comprising a' large circular portion having an interior groove to co-operate with said cones to form a raceway for the balls, and also comprising a projecting circular portion of relatively small diameter, a grooved car- "iage-supporting track or guideway within which said projecting portion fits and whereby it is confined against upward displacement, and a stud projecting from said said stud threaded into a hole pro different carriage to support said cones, said stud being in the form of a screw passing through said roller, and said carriage having a surfacev against which said screw holds said cones. 10; The combination with a typewriter carriage, of a pair of cones fixed thereon, a set of balls running upon said cones, a carriage-supporting roller comprising a circular portion of relatively large diameter having an interior groove to co-operate with said cones to form a raceway for said balls, and also comprising a circular projecting portion of relatively small diameter, a grooved track member wherein said projecting portion fits and whereby it is confined against upward displacement, and a bushing having heads by which saidcones are coupled together.

11. The combination with a typewriter carriage, of a pair of cones fixed thereon, a set of balls running upon said cones, a carriage-supporting roller comprising a circular portion of relatively large diameter having an interior groove to co-operate with said cones to form a raceway for said balls, and also comprising a circular projecting portion of relatively small diameter, a grooved track member wherein said projecting portion fits and whereby it is confined against upward displacement, and a bushing having heads by which said cones are coupled together, one of the heads of said bushing being drawn over to draw the cones permanently towards each other.

12. The combination with a typewriter carriage, of a pair of cones fixed thereon, a set of balls running upon said cones, a carriage-supporting roller comprising a circular portion of relatively large diameter having an interior groove to cooperate with said cones to form a raceway for said balls, and also comprising a circular projecting portion of relatively small diameter, a grooved track member wherein said projecting portion fits and whereby it is con- .fined against upward displacement, and a bushing having heads by which said cones are coupled together, one of the heads of said bushing being drawn over to draw the cones permanently towards each other, and a space being left between the cones to enable wear to be taken up by spinning or forcing one of said bushing heads. a

13. The combination with a typewriter carriage, of a pair of cones, a set of balls running upon said cones, a carriage roller comprising a large circular portion having an interior groove to co-operate with said cones to form a raceway for the balls, and also comprising a projecting circular portion of relatively small diameter, a grooved carriage-supporting track or guideway with in which said projecting portion fits and whereby it is confined against upward displacement, a stud projecting fromisaid car riage to supportsaid cones, said. stud being in the form of a screw passing through said roller, and saidcarriage having a surface may be detached from and attached to said 1 carriage by means of said screw,

14. In a typewriting machine, in combination, a laterally-movable carriage, a supporting member therefor, aroller comprising a circular portion of relatively small diameter projecting from said carriage, and a groove being formed in said supporting member to form a track and guideway in which said small portion of said roller'runs and in which said portion fits and whereby it is confined against upward displacement, said roller also comprising a circular portion of relatively large diameter clear of said groove and'provided with an anti-friction support upon said carriage. a

15. The combination with a typewriter carriage, having a finished bearing surface, of a track for guiding said carriage, a guide roll to run upon said track, a stud having means detachably supporting it'upon said carriage and comprising an integral head or shoulder to bear against said finished bearing surface between said roll and said carriage, a ball-bearing device to support said roll Wholly upon said stud, said ballbearing device comprising circularly-arranged balls and adjacent cones to confine them, said cones removable from said stud,

and means for releasably retaining said ballbearing device upon said stud while the latter remains fixed to the carriage.

16. A typewriter carriage supporting and guiding roller, comprising a pair of cones or bearings, a supporting stud therefor having means whereby it may be detachably secured to the carriage, said carriage-supporting roller comprising a circular portion of relatively large diameter provided with an interior groove to co-operate with said cones to form a raceway, and balls running in said raceway, said roller also comprising a circular projecting portion ofrelatively small diameter to run upon the carriage-supporting rail.

17. A typewriter carriage supporting and h guiding roller, comprising a pair of cones or bearings, said carriage-supporting roller comprisin a circular portion of relatively large diameter provided with an. interior groove to co-operate with said cones to form a'raceway, balls running in said raceway, said roller also comprising a circular projecting portion of relatively small diameter to run upon the carriage-supporting rail, and a bushing within said cones, said bushmg confining said cones against separation 10 groove to fOIlnfl raceway, and balls in said raceway, said bearing device comprising means whereby it is combined with said balls and saidroller to form ,a unit,,and said small portion projecting from said large portion of said roller torun in a grooved l5 carriage-supporting track.

' WVILLIAM FQHELMOND. Witnesses:

' J. J. BASKERVILLE,

SHIRLEY EL GLEDHILL. 

